Not every first-tier (economically speaking) European or Asian country has a first-rate medical system but I think there are enough, so it must be logistics
or legal issues?
Japan and South Korea come to
mind for Asia. I’m guessing Germany and France still have first-rate care in Europe?
I am French, nothing in France today is comparable to the France of De Gaulle or d'Estaing.
You still can get good treatment in private clinics or in specialized centers such as Institut Gustave Roussy, but not in the average public hospitals which are constantly pushed to lower their costs, including by the “socialists”.
Overall, I don't think the situation is any better in France than in the UK or the US.
It is perhaps even worse than in the UK, for example in my small town of Saint-Malo, an elderly person lay on a stretcher in the emergency room for many hours and died there without seeing a doctor.
On average in France, 20 to 30 people die per month in the emergency room without having received treatment.
As the BBC article says, "The causes of France's healthcare crisis are complex, but the long-term pressure of an aging population alongside a shortage of medical staff"
It's true there were astonishing demographic changes, we went from a pyramid /\ to a column | | in 50 years. There are nearly as retirees than employees. This situation is not sustainable. And people are more and more upset.
Pharmaceuticals and insurance should be ripe for disruption, yet it’s too big for anyone to take on because we can’t manufacture locally at scale.
Meanwhile different actors will blame “government” or “big pharma” and nothing gets done.